Remember the times when YouTube was a synonym for listening to music? Well, the whole story is a lot different right now. With over 2 billion monthly visitors YouTube has become the second largest search engine, right after Google. Surprising? Not really. And here’s why.
Picture 1. YouTube Shorts are a new short-form video platform
69% of people say they’d most prefer to learn about a new product or service by watching a short video. A whopping 78% of people report watching videos online each week, with 55% of those watching on a daily basis. Sounds like a good enough reason for marketers to invest more into creating videos, and precisely because of that 61% of marketers plan to increase their video spending in 2021.
It’s quite obvious that video content is the way to go – the planetary success of the platform TikTok is the best proof. Creating short, fun, and engaging videos has become a must, the big players like Facebook and Instagram know it best. Following the success of TikTok and Reels, YouTube has created a short-form video feature as well. Enter YouTube Shorts.
What Are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are user-generated catchy videos, lasting up to 60 seconds. The videos need to be vertical and are displayed within the Shorts section of the YouTube mobile application. They were released globally in July 2021 and according to Tubular Labs, more than 152,000 accounts have uploaded 1.1 million Shorts in only a couple of weeks.
How to Create YouTube Shorts?
You first need to download the YouTube app to your mobile device, for either Android or iPhone, and sign in. After you’ve done that, you’ll notice the Create button in the bottom center, in the form of a Plus Sign.
When you tap on that you’ll get a pop-up saying (among others) Create a Short with a camera icon right next to it. Tap it. Then you’ll land on the YouTube Shorts recording page which is actually very similar to the TikTok interface. After that – your imagination is the limit. You can use pre-recorded content, film new videos with both back and front cameras, pick music, adjust the speed, etc.
Benefits
Though it may seem like just another video platform, Shorts offer a range of benefits. First of all, they’re a part of YouTube – as such, they have a seriously huge reach. Also, YouTube’s audience is very diverse and there’s an opportunity to target people of all sorts of profiles and ages (whereas TikTok for example gathers almost exclusively a younger audience).
Remember the fuss about TikTok being censored and banned in some countries – well, it’s hardly likely that something like that could happen to YouTube. And most importantly, Shorts don’t disappear after 24hours – they stay offering a possibility of growing long-term awareness about a certain topic or a brand.
Wrap up
Though it may seem as another channel that’s very similar to channels that already exist, YouTube Shorts can be a great way to reach new people, spread awareness and tell your story, especially now when there’s still aren’t that many brands using it. Any channel that gathers your potential customers is a good channel, so if you still haven’t got acquainted with Shorts – maybe it’s time to start doing it.